Our wind farms

Learn about our offshore wind farms that are in development, in construction, and the ones that are operational, all right here in the UK.

Our offshore wind farms in the UK

11 operational
2 in construction
3 in development

From the world's first to the world's biggest

Since pioneering the world’s first offshore wind farm in 1991, we have established ourselves as the unrivalled leader within global offshore wind power production.

We have built more offshore wind capacity than any other company worldwide, and have installed over a quarter of the market’s current capacity. In 2017, we installed the world's largest offshore wind turbines at Burbo Bank Extension and we continue to grow our offshore wind farm fleet in the UK.

Find information on all our UK offshore wind farms below:

Operational Wind Farms

We fully or partly own eleven operational wind farms in the UK. They produce enough green electricity to power over 3.2 million UK homes a year. This will rise to over 5.5 million homes when our current construction projects become operational.

Operational offshore wind farms

Barrow

Electricity generated by the wind farm is delivered to the National Grid at a substation in Heysham, Lancashire via 27km of buried subsea transmission and onshore cables.

Construction and commissioning work was completed in June 2006, a little over a year after offshore work got underway in the East Irish Sea. First power was generated in March 2006. Ørsted's team of technicians and project staff operate the wind farm from an operations and maintenance (O&M) base in Barrow-in-Furness.

Facts

Overall capacity

90 MW

Number of turbines

30

Commercial Operation

2006

Location

East Irish Sea, 7km South West of Walney Island near Barrow-in-Furness

Burbo Bank Extension produces enough electricity to power over 230,000 UK homes.Less than ten years ago at Burbo Bank, we were the first to install a 3.6 MW wind turbine. In 2017, we were again the first company to install MHI Vestas V164 - 8.0 MW turbines which are the world's largest wind turbines at Burbo Bank Extension.

Walney Extension, located in the Irish Sea, is the world’s largest operational offshore wind farm, generating clean electricity for nearly 600,000 homes. This massive feat of engineering was constructed on time and within budget, together with our partners PKA and PFA.

We currently have two wind farms in construction. Our construction projects will take our installed capacity in the UK to over 6,300MW.

In Construction

Hornsea Project One

This will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Once completed in 2020, it will produce enough energy to power over 1 million homes.

With a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts (GW), Hornsea Project One will be the world's first offshore wind farm to exceed 1 GW in capacity.

Located off the Yorkshire coast, Hornsea Project One will span a huge area of approximately 407 square kilometres, which is over five times the size of the city of Hull. The offshore wind farm will use 7 megawatt (MW) wind turbines, with each one 190 metres tall – larger than the Gherkin building in London.

Hornsea Project Two as granted consent by the Secretary of State for Energy on the 16th August 2016. The project is located approximately 89km off the Yorkshire coast. When complete, it will be able to meet the electricity needs of up to 1.3 million homes per year, and bring low carbon power to the UK and the opportunity for economic growth in the Humber region.

The project will make an important contribution towards the UK goal for renewable electricity generation and to achieve the UK's energy security and carbon reduction objectives. Hornsea Project Two is the continuation of our strong commitment to the UK and further investment into the UK offshore wind pipeline.

On 11 September 2017, we were awarded a contract to build this wind farm, at the lowest-ever price (£57.5/MWh) for offshore wind in the UK.

Wind Farms in Development

We currently have three offshore wind farms in development. Read more about the latest activities for these projects.

In Development

Hornsea Project Three

We are proposing to develop a new offshore wind farm (Hornsea Project Three), in the North Sea, off the North Norfolk Coast. The proposed wind farm could potentially be generating up to 2,400 MW of electricity, enough to meet the daily electricity needs of well over 2 million homes.

Hornsea Project Four is an offshore wind farm which Ørsted is proposing to develop in the North Sea, approximately 65km off the Yorkshire Coast.

In August 2015, we acquired the rights to develop the Hornsea zone from SMart Wind Ltd, who were originally awarded the zone in The Crown Estate Round 3 bid process.

To date, Hornsea Project One and Hornsea Project Two have both received planning consent and are under construction, while Hornsea Project Three has submitted an application for a consent (a Development Consents Order – DCO).

We are now exploring the potential to develop a fourth project in the zone, Hornsea Project Four. The Project is at the beginning of the pre-application process where thorough consultation on the project plans and proposals will take place in parallel with the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) process, resulting in an application for a DCO.

It is important to note that the Project is still at an early stage in the development process and is considering the options available to it. The planning process it is required to follow to apply for a DCO is a complex and thorough one (stipulated by the 2008 Planning Act, as the Project will be a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) and capable of generating enough electricity to power hundreds of thousands of UK homes).

We are investigating an area in the Territorial Seas of the Isle of Man, to the east of the island. The project is at an early stage of development, and as such its final layout and size are not known. Subject to our investigations, and the outcome of future consenting processes, the windfarm could generate up to 700 megawatts (MW) of electricity. While the number of wind turbine generators and their sizes are not yet know, it will be considered during the planning and consenting process.

About the project

Ørsted was awarded "Preferred Bidder" status in November 2014, following a tender process conducted by the Isle of Man Government earlier in the year.

Ørsted has now signed an Agreement for Lease (AfL) with the Isle of Man Government. This AfL gives Ørsted the right to investigate an agreed area within the Isle of Man Territorial Seas, located approximately 6-12 nautical miles off the east coast of the island, to determine its suitability for an offshore wind farm.

It will take a number of years to complete these investigations, after which there will be an option to execute a lease with the Isle of Man Government for the seabed over the lifetime of the wind farm, if conditions are suitable.

Planning Consent will be needed before a lease is signed with the Isle of Man Government and if conditions are not suitable for an offshore wind farm Ørsted will hand the site back to the Isle of Man Government.

Subject to the specific findings of the investigations throughout the development stage, construction activities would be likely to take place post-2020.

Project Description

The site under investigation for the proposed wind farm is located within the Territorial Seas of the Isle of Man, to the east of the island.

The project is at an early stage of development, and as such its final layout and size are not known. It is important to note that the final size of the windfarm will be less than the area currently earmarked by the AfL for investigation.

Subject to our investigations, and the outcome of future consenting processes, the proposed windfarm could generate up to 700 megawatts (MW) of electricity. The number of wind turbine generators, and their likely size, is not yet known, but will be considered during the planning and consenting processes.

Environmental Assessment

Ørsted will be producing an Environmental Statement to support the applications for Marine Infratsructure Licence and other consents needed for the export cable installation outside of Isle of Man waters. Work has started on the production of an EIA Scoping Report for the potential offshore works.

Other information

Ørsted awarded Preferred bidder status

Signed an Agreement for lease November 2015

Now investigating territory 6-12 miles off the east coast of the Isle of Man

Pending investigation, any potential wind farm could be up to approximately 700MW

Discover the location of our UK offshore wind farms:

The Ørsted vision is a world that runs entirely on green energy. Ørsted develops, constructs and operates offshore wind farms, bioenergy plants and innovative waste-to-energy solutions and provides smart energy products to its customers. Headquartered in Denmark, Ørsted employs 5,900 people, including over 900 in the UK. Ørsted's shares are listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (Orsted). In 2017, the group's revenue was DKK 59.5 billion (EUR 8.0 billion). For more information on Ørsted, visit orsted.co.uk or follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.